Focus%20on:%20Mise-en-Scene

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Focus on Mise-en-Scene
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Mise-en-Scene

• From the French, literally translates to put on
  the stage or placed within the scene however,
  deals with a number of issues overlapping with
  cinematography that can categorized.

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Working definition of Mise-en-Scene . . .

• The arrangement and relationships of visual
  weights and movements within the frame and
  outside of the frame. Incorporates both the
  staging of action and the way it is recorded and
  presented i.e., both production and product.

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Elements of Mise-en-Scene

• Dominant
• Subsidiary contrasts
• Cinematography
• Open and closed form
• Frame composition and design
• Character placement and proxemics

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• Whats dominant? What captures our attention
  initially?
• What do you notice second and third?
• How does the eye travel around the frame, often
  from point to point?

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Mise . . . Whats dominant and secondary?

• Characters eyes can direct our attention
• Characters place in the front and center gain
  more attention than on sides or back
• Heighth, lighting, and colors demand attention
• Dominance can be read literally and figuratively

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Mise includes elements of cinematography

• You might consider how elements of cinematography
  properly involve how the film is recorded and
  mise involves what is recorded. That is,
  cinematography is the production and mise is the
  product.

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Elements of Mise . . .

• Dominant ?
• Subsidiary contrasts ?
• Cinematography
• Open and closed form
• Frame composition and design
• Character placement and proxemics

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Quick review Cinematography includes

• Lighting
• Color (formally)/Contrast
• Film stocks gauges
• Opticals (lenses, filters)
• Effects
• Shots

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(reviewing) and we define shots according to

• Size/Distance
• Angle
• Content
• Movement
• Point of view
• Conventions

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Elements of Mise . . .

• Dominant ?
• Subsidiary contrasts ?
• Cinematography ?
• Open and closed form
• Frame composition and design
• Character placement and proxemics

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Open form . . .

• Tends toward realistic film expressions
• Apparent haphazard frame composition
• Temporarily cuts off action and space action
  continues off-screen
• (Alien)

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Open form manipulates the film form, which
suggests vastness, loneliness and isolation,
desolation here in Alien
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Closed form . . .

• Tends toward formalistic film expressions
• Distortion of form over subject as content
• Self-conscious style of presentation
• Balanced, figurative design

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Closed form manipulates the film form, often to
cerate an organized space in which the action
takes place--the frame as a sort of stage. Note
the blocking devices. (Lord of the Rings)
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Elements of Mise . . .

• Dominant ?
• Subsidiary contrasts ?
• Cinematography ?
• Open and closed form ?
• Frame composition and design
• Character placement and proxemics

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Mise involves frame composition and design . . .

• How tightly or loosely organized are objects and
  characters within the frame?
• How balanced is the frame?
• What depths does the frame provide?
• What is the underlying design of the frame?
  Classic S-shaped or triangular? Linear?

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Mise involves the placement of characters . . .

• How much space between characters and specific
  objects?
• Public, social, personal, and intimate distance
• Characters relationships to camera create
  perspective and other meanings

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What does Austins placement suggest about his
feelings for the other characters?
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Mise . . . Compare the placement of these
characters. What do we know about them and their
relationships?
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Mise . . . Character placement

• When characters touch, there is some form of
  intimacy
• Intimacy, though, does not have to be loving
• Intimacy can be protective or mutually trusting
  or even violent

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Mise. . . placement creates dominance . . .

• Front is more dominant than back
• Center more than sides
• Bigger more than smaller
• Moving more than static
• Human more than non-human
• Standing more than sitting
• Follow eye-line matches

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Elements of Mise . . .

• Dominant ?
• Subsidiary contrasts ?
• Cinematography ?
• Open and closed form ?
• Frame composition and design ?
• Character placement and proxemics ?